Huldah (Keeper of the Wardrobe and Prophetess)

Huldah occupied a position of unparalleled spiritual and theological esteem in ancient Judah. Married to Shallum, the royal keeper of the sacred wardrobe, she taught and prophesied from the Mishneh (the Second Quarter or academy) of Jerusalem.

Authenticating the Book of the Law

In 622 BCE, while Temple renovations were underway, Hilkiah the High Priest discovered a lost scroll of the Torah (widely recognized as Deuteronomy). Shocked by its severe warnings against idolatry, the young King Josiah ordered the High Priest, royal scribe Shaphan, and the royal cabinet to 'Go and inquire of the Lord for me.' Passing by contemporary male prophets like Jeremiah and Zephaniah, the delegation went directly to Huldah.

Inaugurating National Transformation

Huldah authenticated the scroll as the authentic, authoritative Word of the living God. She affirmed the divine reality of the judgments written therein, but offered profound comfort to Josiah because his heart was tender and he had humbled himself. Her decisive certification triggered the greatest religious purge of pagan shrines, child sacrifice altars, and idolatry in the kingdom's history.